Study of etiology of acute diarrhoea among children at a tertiary care teaching centre

Objectives: Present study was conducted with the objective to know hospital prevalence and clinical features of acute diarrhoea and describe the common bacterial pathogens isolated in these cases of diarrhoea in children. Materials and methods: 120 children between 1month to 12 years of age presenting with acute diarrhea admitted to Department of pediatrics, Teerthanker Mahaveer medical college and research centre, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh were included in the study. Cases of abrupt onset of four or more loose stools per day of less than 14 day's duration were included. All cases who received antibiotics before collection f stool samples were excluded. Detailed history was taken and clinical examination performed. An evaluation of degree of dehydration was done. Two samples of stool were collected; one sample in a sterile bottle for microscopic examination and the other for culture sensitivity study. Results& Conclusions: Hospital prevalence of gastroenteritis was 11.5 %. In the present study the maximum number of cases of diarrhoea occurred in first 2 years of life 79 (65.83%).The male to female ratio was 1.26: 1. In the present study 46.67% of the patients had varying grades of malnutrition, Grade I (26.67%) and Grade II (11.67%) were the most common types seen in present study. Some dehydration was present in 94(78.33%) of the cases and 19(15.83%) had severe dehydration and 07(5.83%) had no dehydration. Majority of patients having moderate dehydration had 810 stools/day. In this study the association between frequency of loose stools and severity of dehydration was statistically significant. Microscopic examination of stool revealed that pus cells > 10/HPF was seen in 32 cases, and RBC's were seen in 17 cases. Stool culture was positive in 64(53.33%) of the cases. Escherichia coli were found to be the predominant organism accounting for 51(40.683%) of the cases. Salmonella, Klebsiella and Shigella were also detected. In 56(46.67%)of the remaining cases, no enteropathogenic bacteria could be isolated.